Technology has undoubtedly increased our efficiency in sharing information. However, there continues to be a growing need for faster and unencumbered access to shared information. This is especially true when users want access to information, but the users lack the requisite permissions for access. This situation can be illustrated in a business scenario. In a business setting, groups of people may know of or may assume the existence of documents when conducting business transactions, but each group possesses a different level of access to these documents. For example, when planning a business deal, a person may want all documentation related to the business deal. This documentation may include prior e-mails, letters, portable document files (PDFs), etc. Ideally, it would be advantageous for the person to: (a) know about the existence of these documents and (b) have access to view the contents of these documents.
Currently, users can search for documents using commercially available search engines. However, none of the currently available search engines efficiently accommodate the situation illustrated above. First, current search engines do not allow users to search for documents to which the users have no access. Therefore, a user can not request access to these documents because the user fails to know of their existence. Currently, there is no search engine that allows users to search document collections of various access levels.
Second, even if a user were to find a document of interest in which the user has limited access, the user can not quickly and efficiently obtain access to the document. Today, if a user wanted access to a restricted document, the user must first find out who can grant permission to view the document. Next, the user must find contact information of the entity that can grant permission. After finding contact information, the user must then contact the entity via phone, e-mail, or other communications device, and convince the entity to grant permission. Even if the user is successful in obtaining permission to access the document the user must then wait until the entity sends the document to the user or includes the user on an access list. This entire process is both time consuming and inefficient. Currently, no search engine provides a user the ability to search for documents of varying access levels. Furthermore, no search engine provides users and entities the ability to interact in real-time for access to restricted documents.
Therefore, there is a need for a system that allows a user to search for restricted documents and allows a user to obtain quick, real-time access to inaccessible documents.